Enhancing teamwork and helping the environment, one picnic at a time

We took tips from Drawdown.org to make our employee picnic more sustainable

Our biennial picnic is a much beloved Illinois tradition at Pepper. This year, approximately 200 adults and 100 children came to our Barrington campus the first weekend in August to enjoy bounce houses, archery, crafts, bingo, a water-balloon toss, trivia games and good, old fashioned comradery.

We also took a page or two from Drawdown.org in an effort to make this year’s picnic more sustainable. We replaced plastic table covers with reusable cloth and increased the number of recycle bins. In addition to the traditional fare, vegetarian entrée options were added to the menu, which also included nutritional facts to help everyone make informed choices. Food choice isn't the first thing to come to mind when thinking about sustainability but moving towards a plant-rich diet has benefits beyond individual health. The Western diet's dependence on meat is responsible for one-fifth of global carbon emissions!

Of course, we also had an abundance of treats like cotton candy, popcorn and snow cones for individuals and families to enjoy while relaxing, playing games and spending time together without the pressures of work. The picnic is always a great opportunity for teammates based in different offices to see each other in person. A successful team requires personal connections and, at Pepper, building relationships is at the foundation of everything we do. While email, phone calls and even video chat can often be more efficient, they are not substitutes for face-to-face interaction.

To capture the fun on video, our resident drone pilot, John Zurek, did a fly-over of the festivities. Click below to take a look!